Refrigerating apparatus



Feb. 16, 1943, J ou oozE 2,311,045

- REFRIGERATING APPARATUS I Filed Aug. 1, 1941 2Sheets-She et 1 INVEMOR. 174E707 d Gee/40oz:

WLM

n'rrmamsy Feb. 16, 1943. M. J. GOULOOZE' 2,311,045

1 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1,1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I J 77 A 2 i 5! INVENTOR. 'fqk f Qauaoaza Y Patented Feb. 16,1943

to Nash-Kelvinator Co p ration, a corporation of Maryland Detroit, Mich,

Application August 1,1941, Serial No. 405,069

1 Claim. (ci. 20-35) n ledge 34 about the door. The metal 'is'eXtended The present invention pertains to refrigerator cabinets and more particularly to a door construction for such cabinets. 7

It is an object of the present invention to construct a door which may be easily and quickly adjusted in co-planar alignment with a wall of a cabinet to form an air tight seal about an opening to a compartment formed in the cabinet.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved door construction in which the desired rigidity is obtained by use of cross straps or braces.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a door construction having adjustment means for aligning the door in sealing arrangement with a cabinet.

It is a still further object of the present invenfrom the ledge 34 to form a second ledge 36 in parallel relation below the ledge 34. Secured by weld, or'the like, to the ledge 36 is a frame 31 extending about the door and serves as a box-like reinforcement frame structure. The inner mar-v ginal edge of the frame is bent at right angles,

tion to provide a rigid door construction, the

thermal conductivity of which is relatively low.

The invention itself, however, both as to its organization, and its method of operation together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a refrigerator cabinet embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a door of a refrigerator cabinet embodying the present invention with parts broken away and parts shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectionalview taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the horizontal adjustment bar used in the present invention.

Shown in the drawings is a refrigerator cabinet 20. The cabinet has a food storage compartment refrigerated by a suitable refrigerating apparatus of which the condensing unit is mounted in a machine compartment insulated from the food storage compartment. and to which access is had through door or panel 22,

Access to the food storage compartment is had through door 24 pivotally mounted on hinges 26 secured to a side wall of the cabinet. The door is provided with a rubber gasket 21 adapted to seal against the front wall of the cabinet immediately adjacent to and about the opening to the food storage compartment to prevent air entering the compartment.

The door comprises an outer metal panel or shell 30 of pan-like conformationhaving side, top and bottom walls 32. The side, top and bottom walls are bent inwardly to form a peripheral as at 39. Secured to each of the upper comers of the door on theiramemember 31 by their ends are straps 40. The straps are crossed to extend diagonallyacross the door and are secured at their opposite ends to a bar or member 45 by screws 46.

The member 45 extends horizontally across the width of the door adjacent the bottom thereof, and is movable in a vertical direction. 'The member is formed of parallel sections 41 and 49 interconnected by section 50 which is recessed at each end, as at 52 to accommodate vframe 31.

The bottom marginal edge of the section 49 is bent, as at 54, to which is secured by weld,-or the like, internally threaded sleeves 56.

ppenings are formed in the bottom wall 32 in which are pressed cup shaped members 60 having an opening 5| inthe bottom thereof. Extending through opening GI and threading into the sleeve 56 are screws 62 having enlarged heads 64 adapted to lie in the cup 60. An arcuate leaf spring the door, dependent upon the direction of rotation, for increasing or decreasing the tension up- 0 "the cross straps 40 for correcting any warping 0? buckling tendency of the outer panel.

1" The door gasket 21 is secured to the door by means of a tongue 10 formed integral with the vgasket and is adapted to lie upon the frame 31 being secured thereto by strip -12 attached by screws 14 to frame 31. The end of the tongue is enlarged, as at 16, against which is held the inner.

door panel 11 by the overlapping portion 19 of the gasket 21. The gasket 21 also seats upon the ledge 34. By this arrangement the inner door panel is mounted in floating relation.

Suitable heat insulation material is placed between the inner and outer panels of the door. In the mounting of the door to the cabinet the gasket 21 should seal tightly against the face of the cabinet about the opening to the food storage compartment. In the present construction should, for example, it be found that the upper left hand corner of the door be away from the cabinet to prevent a tight seal, then the threading of the screw 82 at the right corner of the door and drawing the horizontal bar 45 down- Wardly, the cross strap 40 will be so drawn as to flex inwardly the comer of the outer panel sufliciently to move the gasket against the face of the door. against the member 45 tends to lock the screw against undue rotation and at the same time prevent rattles or vibrational movement of the member 45. It will be noted that the ends of section 41 of member 45 engage in depressed portions 90 of 'the frame 31 so as to lie flush, or slightly below the top surface of the frame. This permits free adjustable movement of the member 45 after the door is assembled to the cabinet without interference from the gasket face of the cabinet after the door is completely The tension of the springs 66 assembled and attached to the cabinet. The adjustment screws are so located in the bottom. of the door to permit easy access thereto, while at the same time are so hidden from view as not to interfere or detract from the external appearance of the cabinet.

While I have shown and described the preferred forms of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details as shown, but wish to avail myself of such variations and modifications as may come within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A door of the class described comprising inner and outer panels with heat insulation therebetween, said outer panel formed of relatively flexible sheet metal having sides, a frame member secured to said sides to stiffen said panel, a member having its ends guided by said frame member in longitudinal movement therewith, straps extending diagonally across said outer panel each having an end afilxed to said frame member and their opposite ends to said member, means extending through a side of said outer panel for adjusting movement of said member in tightening said straps and further stiffening said outer panel against fiexure, and means for holding said member in fixed position.

MARTIN J. GoiILoozE. 

